


A Lost Cause

by hobie



Category: Fast and the Furious Series, Selfie (TV), The Mindy Project
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-01 07:16:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2764487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hobie/pseuds/hobie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry and Eliza have a complicated relationship.  Set of drabbles revolving around them.</p><p>#weshipit #teamheliza</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deluge

He felt like the lost cause. Henry cursed himself for the hundredth time as he sat alone, driven to self loathing over recent events. His actions had hurt two women. Julia deserved better than to be unceremoniously dumped the way she had. And Eliza, he had somehow overanalyzed why she had come onto him as well as doubted if she was really in love with him. His mind replayed recent memories of the fiery red head, through a little life coaching, she had slowly transformed from shallow party girl into an engaging, captivating beauty. Question was, did he love her from the get go in spite of her many flaws? She had changed him for the better, much more than he’d care to admit. And he grimaced, as he realized he was a chicken as she had put it. When she had gotten him to show his fun side during that weekend at Saperstein’s ranch, he may have mistakenly started to change for her too. Eliza Dooley had figured it out: he only pretended to love Julia, having entered into the relationship simply because the latter and Charmonique had tried to hook him up. Henry also recalled the time at his place, when she had dared him to touch her and in a rare display he had shocked both of them with his passion. She had broken through his reserve, his emotional façade. 

And now he may have irreparably destroyed their relationship through his inaction.


	2. On My Own

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza mulls over Henry

She sat up in bed, staring up at the darkened ceiling, replaying the painful scenes in Henry's office where he had flat out rejected her. It was incredulous to her why he thought she was just showing interest in him out of fear of commitment to Freddy. For a smart guy, was he really that clueless? No friggin' way. She KNEW he didn't love Julia and she knew there was chemistry between them. The time she had urged him to touch her and he had done it with a suprising display of passion... She cursed herself for beating a hasty retreat that night. If only she had kissed him. The hurt and pain were palpable. She had grown to care for him, they had grown to be great friends in the truest sense of the word. It felt more than right that they should be even more close. What was he afraid of? She knew deep down that he could possibly be the ONE. Over the past couple months there had been so many intimate moments where they had almost kissed. Out in the rain at his house, at Sapersteins for the weekend, the time they had to attend that conference in Vegas

All the drinking and meaningless sex with Freddy did nothing to dull the hurt Henry had caused her. She closed her eyes and remembered her karaoke performance. Eliza had to admit that it had been a great choice. She hadn't had much time to choose what she wanted to sing, but it was either "Chandelier" or "On My Own" from Les Miserables or maybe "Hopelessly Devoted To You".

She grabbed her cell phone and chose a music app, finding the appropriate song.

_On my own_  
Pretending he's beside me  
All alone  
I walk with him till morning  
Without him  
I feel his arms around me  
And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
And he has found me 

Sappy, yes she thought as tears welled in her eyes. But she had never been in a bona fide real romance. Thats why it hurt so much because she wanted it to be them.


	3. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> drabbles from a karaoke night

"Hey bae, I love you too," Eliza cooed after she had asked Henry to blink if he loved her and he had done so.

Henry sighed. He had to get out of there, but where was he going? Julia had already left. Sure he could go after her and try and salvage their relationship but everything Eliza had said to him in front her her had been spot on.  
His heart raced. Here they were in the office karaoke party and if he reciprocated her feelings here and now, there was bound to be consequences.

He looked at the redhead in the eyes and despite her inebriated state, there was a vulnerablity and earnestness in them that both endeared her to him and made him resolve to put aside his self doubt. For the past two days he was weighing the pros and cons. _Fuck it._

"Okay," he gave her a small smile. "I guess I came back for you."

Eliza eagerly grabbed him, intent to consummate this triumph with their first kiss, not bothering to care that the whole office would see it. Maybe even Freddy.

"Wait," he breathed.

"What?" she shot him a sensual look.

"Let's just mingle a little, socialize..." he choked. 

She draped an arm around him and they moved back towards the area where karaoke was being performed. Henry warily scoped out the scene, wondering who had been watching.

The karaoke jockey, probably prompted by Saperstein abruptly ended the song he was playing and announced, "Next on stage.... Henry Higgs! Come on down!"

He was glad for the interruption, still beset by a torrent of different feelings. Eliza squealed with delight at seeing it was his turn. Many coworkers stopped their conversations in anticipation. Nervously, he took the mic and stood front and center.

_Call it magic Call it true I call it magic When I'm with you_

He softly sang the fist lines to Coldplay's "Magic". It was an acoustic guitar with a distinctive drum beat. Scanning the crowd, she stood there among them, dressed in that plain dark tshirt. Still, that unique smile took away his reticence. 

_And I just got broken Broken into two Still I call it magic When I'm next to you_

And despite all the many people in the room, both he and she knew who the song was for and what it meant. And even after he was done and acknowledging the kind applause from his coworkers, he didn't expect to be grabbed by her right then and there and receive a passionate kiss. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Henry awoke in his hotel room with a start. For a minute, he was startled to find himself in a strange bed then suddenly remembered he was allowing Eliza to sleep at his place after she had gotten evicted. And when he saw that it was 4am and the last few nice thoughts in his head had all been a dream, he muttered a stream of curses and went back to his self loathing. 


	4. Yuletide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heliza Christmas fluff.

It was the weekend before Christmas and everyone at Kinderkare Pharmaceuticals went to the annual Christmas Party. Well almost everyone. Henry sat home, drinking a glass of spiked egg nog, trying to get through the latest Dan Brown book. His eyes read the words, but his mind was elsewhere. After the breakup with Julia, he had decided not to attend the party. It would have been too difficult to go out and try to make merry with coworkers he hated being around especially when they were drunk. He didn't care about door prizes or raffles or even a nice prime rib dinner.

Around 945pm, a rap at his door startled him awake. Pathethic falling asleep this early on a Saturday night, he mused. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he got up and answered the door. Eliza stood there, wearing a santa hat as well as a sexy red cocktail dress. Her hands were full. 

"Hey, I got you a dinner plate and come bearing gifts," she quickly greeted him.

"Thanks," he stated, allowing her in. "You didn't need to do this."

"Stop being a Scrooge, Henry. I am the ghost of Christmas Present," the readhead narrowed her eyes at him.

"Eliza," he sighed. "I skipped the annual party for a good reason. I'm not exactly in the Christmas spirit this year."

"Cheer up," she told him. "Enjoy the nice food. I got a bit of everything for you, those swedish meatballs are to die for. Also presents from your secret santa and me."

"You could've waited till Monday," he told her. "You didn't have to leave the party early for me."

Eliza sat down on the couch and he joined her. "It wasn't a party without you."

He chuckled. "What about Freddy?"

She looked down. "He didn't go either. Has a bit of the flu or something."

"Oh."

A moment of silence passed between them. He felt a little awkward being alone with her. Sometimes he feared he'd do or say the wrong thing.

"I forgot that I got a little something for you too," he mentioned, breaking the ice.

Her eyes lit up, It was always nice getting something from him.

He retrieved a white envelope from his desk and went back over to her. 

"And here I thought you were going for the ring," she quipped. "J/k!"

"Merry Christmas, Eliza." he handed her the gift.

She took the envelope and opened it. Inside were two tickets to the Pantages Theater. "Wicked? How did you know?" she exclaimed. 

"I amazon stalked you and found out that was your favorite book while you were growing up," he smiled. 

"I've always wanted to see it, I have the original Broadway Soundtrack with Adele Dazeem!" the redhead beamed.

"Well it just so happens the Tour is currently in LA, hence these tickets," Henry grinned.

She put her arms around him and hugged him. Henry felt awkward and conflicted, but he had to admit it felt great. Plus her perfume drove him crazy...

"What are you doing tuesday night at eight?" she asked.

"You don't have to.."

"I want your to be my plus one here ," Eliza countered. Freddy had recently taken her to seee Pippin but he would probably not be over the flu by Tuesday. 

"I guess I'd be interested in going," he agreed.

"Good," her smile lit up the room. "This is the best present I've ever got. Front Row Orchestra. You're the best."

"No Eliza, you are," the marketing expert replied. "You're the top."

"OMG," she laughed. "We're not gonna break into a Cole Porter song here and now?"

"You know Cole Porter?" his eyes widened. 

She did, having being dragged to many local and regional stage productions by her parents. 

"Yeah, so let's add that and Defying Gravity to our setlist at the next Karaoke night," she suggested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just saw Episode 12 and was surprised Freddie wanted to take Eliza to see the Stephen Schwartz Musical Pippin. He is also the creator of the music from Wicked. I wrote this fanfic chapter before seeing the episode yesterday. 
> 
> # Team Henry


	5. In His kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bethany and Eliza talk more

"So what's up with that love triangle you're in?" Bethany asked while she packed her suitcase.

"Whatever do you mean?" Eliza made a face at her older sister.

"Well I met your hot boyfriend, yet you didn't seem all lovey dovey around him at the mud run," the other noted. "Then there was Henry and the way you to related to each other..."

"Geez, you got all that in during the little time you were there?" the younger Dooley sister remarked. She knew Bethany had mingled a lot with her co-workers including Charmonique and Raj.

"I saw the way Henry acted around you and with you and the way he looked at you," Bethany maintained.

"Henry's probably the only one true friend I've ever had," Eliza admitted. She was hesistant to tell her sister more and she tried not to think about all the pain she had endured after being rejected by him.

"You're in love with him."

"Guilty as charged," nodded the younger Dooley sister.

"So what's the deal then?

Eliza turned away, tears welling in her eyes. The one guy who actually cared for her as a person and didn't see her as a sex object or a booty call gave her extreme feel, both good and bad.

"Come on, Lizard, I'm here for you," Bethany put a comforting arm around her sister. "He's in love with you too, he'll come around."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone pause and check out Bethany's instagram photos and comments from the last episode?


	6. The White Knight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saperstein muses on Heliza

It was the end of a successful day which featured another fine charity event from Kinderkare Phamaceuticals. Chairman Sam Saperstein watched the Pediatric/Sci-fi/Superhero convention clear out. His company had been one of the main sponsors and several of his employees had donated their time as volunteers. Kevin Whitaker had cosplayed as the Green Power Ranger along with Eliza Dooley (pink) and Henry Higgs (red). The three of them had spent hours with all types of rambunctious kids, guiding them through the various activities of the day. Then Henry had changed costumes, appearing as Harry Potter.

"You ready to go home?" Charmonique asked her son, outside the hotel entrance.

He hadn't wanted it to end, but he was a little tired. "I suppose so."

The youngster smiled and waved, watching the ginger get in Freddy's car to leave. His eyes searched for Henry and saw him sitting forlornly in his own car.

"What's up with that?" he sidled up to Saperstein. "Why's Eliza leaving with that guy and not my man?"

"It's complicated," the tall exec replied with a knowing smile. 

"Coulda fooled me. They're perfect together."

_Out of the mouths of babes,_ thought Saperstein. 

"Because he's the boyfriend Eliza deserves but not the one she needs right now," the distinguished boss stated matter of factly. _And I will continue to ship them like you do, young man ._ "He's a caring mentor... a wise Sensei,... _her white knight..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Batman idea is attributed to Annie Rousso on the AV Club website. See the comments thread connected to the Selfie episode 13 review.
> 
> The idea/concept of Saperstein shipping Heliza is from Ubermensch's fanfic "Avalanche."


	7. Rent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eliza panics at missing a rent payment, so soon after her eviction.

She didn't want to get evicted again. The last time had been near catastrophic, having to deal with the pain and humiliation of living in the staff lounge at work. But the next payday wasn't until January 9th and she couldn't even afford to use one of those early loan services which charged an arm and a leg in interest. A direct payment program had been set for the 1st of every month, but she had kept checking, despite not having enough in the account to cover, there had been no withdrawal or overdraft fees. Once she knew her direct deposit had gone through, Eliza quickly wrote out a check and rushed downstairs to Mr Oldman's office.

"Miss Dooley," the forty something building manager greeted her with a quizzical look. He resembled an older Arthur Darvill.

"I'm sorry I'm over a week late," she said meekly to her #landlord, handing him the check. "It was the holidays and all."

"No worries," Oldman reassured her. "That sugar daddy of yours gave me an extra security deposit which he told me to use in the event you were ever delinquent again. Also applies if your bank account doesn't have enough in it. Guess he didn't want you homeless again."

_Henry. Wow._

Henry had been the one to help get her out of a financial crisis, the one who had let her stay at his place, the one who had helped her set up a budget and given her an adorbs pink cabinet. But it seemed he had gone the extra mile.

"Well here," the red head insisted. "Please use this for February, okay?"

And then Eliza went back to he apartment with a strange mixture of feels.


	8. Mary Sue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freddy's sister Clara shows up at Kinderkare as an intern. Warning: deliberate Mary Sue character.

"Hey Sugar Britches," a voice greeted behind Eliza. 

The redhead in question turned in her chair to see Freddy standing at the cubicle alongside a smoking hot girl who looked like Kendall Jenner, just a few inches shorter. Eliza sized the girl up, she wore a cobalt bodycon mini dress with three quarter sleeves. 

"Hey Freddy, who's this?" she wondered, first alarmed that this coed could be a threat to her relationship with the VP of Business Affairs.

"Allow me to introduce to you my sister, Clara," he gestured at his younger sibling, a proud look on his face. She gave Eliza a radiant smile.

"Hi! So you're Freddy's girlfriend? I've been following you on Twitter and Instagram," she beamed.

"So what is this, bring your sibling to work day?" quipped the red head.

"Clara will be interning here at Kinderkare," Freddy told her. "Raj has a program where she will spend at least a week working in every department."

"That's nice, you know it's free though," Eliza winked at the younger woman.

"I don't mind at all," Clara smiled. 

"I was hoping she could start off with you," Freddy mentioned. "Maybe you could show her around, give her the run of the place."

She gave him a side eye, but Henry's lessons had paid off. "Why of course, babe! Clara, just let me get you a chair."

More than four male coworkers heard that and they all scrambled to find a chair for the comely intern.

"Well, I have some meetings to get to, see you later," the Italian/Canadian "Office Dicaprio" told them and sauntered away.

"So this is the Sales Department?" Clara asked, her dark eyes full of naivete.

"Yeah and I'm the top selling sales rep at this piece!" Eliza told the girl. "And Ima tell you all about this department but first I need you to go downstairs to the cafe and get me a latte."

"Sure thing, Ms Dooley," the doe eyed intern grinned. And she left the area with every guy gazing at her backside.

And the @thedoolio didn't really care that there was a walking Victoria's secret ad in their midst; she wasn't in any competition with the girl over male admirers especially at work. She had to admit that Maisey and Brandon Hill had produced some totes fine offspring.

Downstairs at the Kinderbean, Clara waited on line. She was aware of the male eyes watching her. Like clockwork, she was used to it by now. The barista, Romy took her order. 

"A Venti One Cinnamon Dolce Latte and a venti Jade Citrus Mint," she ordered.

"Now there's something I don't see too often here," a voice said. "Someone your age ordering tea."

"Really," she smiled at the speaker. He was an older Asian guy, how old she couldn't tell because a lot of them aged well. "I used to work at a Teavana so I'm a bit of a connoisseur."

"Have you ever heard of Omija?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's a Korean tea, I believe."

"Right, five flavor berry." The attractive man held up his own foam cup even though it had a lid.

He was looking at her, but not checking her out like most guys did. She handed Romy payment and headed back to the elevator. He let her enter then they rode upstairs. In the close space, he noticed the subtle rose scent of her perfume but couldn't guess the brand.

"I'm Clara," she looked at him with a shy smile. Then gestured at the stick on tag with her name written across it.

"Oh, so you must be an intern?" he guessed, having seen the color coded adhesive before. "Please to meet you. I'm Henry. Henry Higgs, I work in Marketing."

"Are you related to Peter Higgs," she asked sweetly.

His eyebrow's arched in surprise. Not many people her age knew the Nobel Prize winner for whom the "God Particle" was properly named.

"I'm not certain, but you've given me a good idea to research my family tree," Henry smiled as the elevator doors opened.

"Okay, see you later, Mr Higgs," Freddy's sister grinned then headed for the Sales wing. After a few seconds, she turned and had to watch HIM walk away in spite of herself.

There was talk at the water cooler and Freddy had to cut his male coworkers off.

"Listen dudes," he said to the trio of lotharios from legal, IT and maintenance. "That new intern is my kid sister."

"Why don't you introduce me to her?" Kenicke wondered.

"Not a chance, bro."

"Why not? You got something against dating a co-worker? Ain't you hitting that tall chick from sales?" Sonny frowned.

"That's different," Freddy argued with a frown. "Besides Clara's only 20 years old and she's off limits."

"Says the guy who slept with my sister," protested Roger. 

"You hit on her once and I tell Raj," warned the Italian/Canadian stud.

"Fine, Fred," Kenicke stated. "But I'm willing to bet your sister falls madly in love with me when she spends time with me in IT."

"Just make sure you don't harass her with any porn, moron," Freddy said darkly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clara's name comes directly from Pygmalion as that is Freddy's sister's name.


	9. Big Murder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Legal drug dealer Eliza Dooley battles illicit drug dealers

Eliza noiselessly pulled her Fiat into Henry's driveway. It was Tuesday night and for the past several weeks, she had come over to watch Fresh Off the Boat with him. When she got to his door, her face contorted in shock. Henry was being accosted in his own home by two thugs with masks.

She immediately pulled out her phone to dial the police when someone grabbed her from behind. "Don't even think about it," whispered a menacing voice.

He ushered her inside to the living room where the two thugs took turns kicking a prone Henry in the ribs.

"Eliza!" Henry looked up to see his protege being manhandled.

"You want to see your lady keep her looks, you agree to our proposal," threatened the nearest goon.

"I told you I'm not Big Murder!" insisted the marketing guru.

"We are not stupid. Although most asians look alike, his last name is Higgs."

Henry sighed with resignation. He knew his twin brother was a notorious drug trafficker and dealer. These men had tattoos and spoke with Mexican accents. Most likely they were from some powerful cartel.

"Ready to cooperate?" demanded the one holding Eliza. "We won't kill you, but she's another story."

"Okay!" Henry agreed, trying to stall and save her. 

"Let's go, Big Murder," laughed the lead goon. He led them out to the driveway and a blue van pulled in. Before Eliza knew it, they were gone.

"Henry," she whispered as she saw the tailights fade off into the darkness.

Her first instinct was to call the police, but what if those men killed Henry? She had to do something. Her eyes caught sight of his cellphone. His passcode was easy to decipher. She went through his contacts and called his mom.

"Hello?"

"Mrs Higgs?"

"Yes?"

"My name is Eliza Dooley. Your son has been taken by drug dealers."

"I see," she said calmly.

"I'm so sorry. They thought he was someone else..."

"Eliza, Henry has told me all about you."

"He has?" she said incredulous.

"Yes. You're his one true friend."

She began to tear up. "He's in trouble."

"It would seem they mistook him for his brother Greg. That happens all the time."

"He has a twin?"

"Yes."

"Should I call the police?"

"The police will only make things worse. I will call my other son, Eliza. You needn't worry about Henry."

About a half an hour later, there was a knock on Henry's glass door. Eliza had been hiding in the bedroom but ran out to answer. Standing there was a beautiful brunette with her hair in a ponytail wearing a camo tank top and BDUs. Next to her was a handsome Asian man with shoulder lenth hair, a purple casual tee and cargo pants.

"Eliza Dooley?" she asked in a pleasant Israeli accent.

"Yes?"

"I'm Giselle, this is Han. We work for Henry's brother."

"Are you drug dealers?"

"She's security, I'm logistics," Han replied with a lopsided grin.

"We're here to get you to a safe house then get your boyfriend back."

"He's not my boyfriend," Eliza mentioned, her heart momentarily sank at saying that, but Henry was the one person she could admit she loved.

"If he's not your boyfriend, how do you explain that romantic selfie you took with that horse?" asked Giselle."

"How do you know about that?"

"I follow you on instagram, @The_Doolio," she smiled.

"Well once this is all over, I'm gonna kick your bosses' ass for endangering Henry in the first place. And I'm not going to sit in some safe house while Henry's life is at risk." 

The three of them got in the Lexus RC F that was parked in their driveway. Han got behind the wheel while Giselle and Eliza got in the back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Han and Giselle are AU Fast and the Furious Characters. In my universe, they never died.


End file.
